House of the Scorpion
by rawr.latte
Summary: [CU/AR] Loyalty to Konoha is important, but loyalty to the Clan is life, and some family secrets are worth dying to protect. Haruno Sakura knows this well. All too well. ["The world may try to forget, but it cannot escape the truth. Fate is a cruel mistress, but she is fair. We cannot all be heroes, Beloved. That is why some monsters are real."]


House of the Scorpion

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_Inspired by my deep-seated phobia of scorpions. I had to do research to start the desensitization process, which was almost immobilizing, but necessary. I figured using that knowledge to write a story might just encourage me to keep trying to overcome my fears._

* * *

_Nightfall._

A shrill cry broke the terse silence of the compound. Jade eyes cut like daggers to the sound, focusing, assessing. A grim mouth set in a weathered face tightened into an almost imperceptible line as the shock began to settle through him.

_Female. It was a female._

An anguished sob ripped forth from the mouth of the woman sitting exhausted on the birthing-bed, clutching her chest in agony. Her eyes swelled with tears as she screamed words of apology, shaking her head in disbelief.

It was supposed to be a boy. They had been told it was a boy.

Haruno Seta clenched his fists, trying his best to contain his rage. If they had known it was to be female, they would have aborted the child long ago. The cruelty of the act of murdering his heir paled in comparison to the cruelty of allowing her to be born.

His wife clutched her child to her chest, profuse pleadings of forgiveness falling out of her lips. He could hear the panic in her voice; he could feel the panic in his own heart, body growing cold.

It was supposed to be a happy day. His wife Seiya was to have a boy, gracing him with an heir and allowing them to have the blessing of a child. Most were not lucky enough to conceive, and those that did were forced into aborting the pregnancy, preventing their daughters from being born into their cursed clan.

It was a mercy, really.

Harunos were men. Only men. And they married outside of their clan. It had been a millennia since a female Haruno had ever entered the land of the living, and he had never intended to be the father of the next one.

Gender-typing was an art. The healer was supposed to be absolutely sure. It took ages of study before he would have been allowed to identify the sex of their baby. It was his honor and his duty.

Out the corner of his eye, Seta saw the aforementioned healer begin to shake, body trembling as the man realized his grave mistake.

To err in such duty meant death. It was only fair. While their clan tolerated the horrid act of aborting the unborn, to kill a fresh babe was and always would be illegal and evil. Even if it was a girl. The condemnation set upon a female Haruno was equal to that of a man's life. The healer would die, because his daughter had lived.

It was only fair.

Seiya's heart-wrenching sobs echoed across the room, her body shielding her daughter from the rest of the room's occupants. Seta hated himself in that moment. It was his cursed blood that caused this. Seiya was innocent. Had she married into any other clan, married any other man, her face would be filled with joy at the arrival of a daughter.

But it was to him she belonged. He had made very sure to carefully explain everything to her long before they had ever wed, and she, though horrified, had loved him enough to stay.

She was innocent. As was his daughter.

Fate was cruel.

There was rustling at the door to the birth tent, and Seta's eyes snapped over, dread filling his stomach at the oppressive ki he felt arriving.

_Sou-sama…_

Their clan leader had arrived. The man's long shock of red hair hung past his waist, his green eyes cold and distant. He was silent, as ever, but the rage in his form was enough to make Seta unconsciously move to shield his wife.

"Seta," the deep baritone voice rumbled, driving ice into his veins, "you have born a female."

It was as much an observation as a claim of damnation, as if it was _his_ fault that the foolish healer had failed.

Brushing a hand through his own red hair, he stood and bowed. "Yes, Sou-sama. We had believed it to be a boy. We would never have allowed…_it_… to be born, if the true sex of the child had been known. We know the law."

The clan head watched Seta for a moment, eyes clearly showing his great displeasure at the situation before him. After a long, crushing silence, the man turned to look back at the wailing Seiya, feet beginning to lightly, cautiously step forward toward the bloody bed.

As if sensing his approach, Seiya cried louder and clutched her daughter closer to her chest. Haruno Sou sneered, glaring down at the babe that had brought dishonor to his great clan.

"We must go into hiding," he finally drawled, shoulders tense. Seta and a suddenly silent Seiya looked at him, mouths gaping. "The Clan is our first priority. You must leave with your…_daughter_, and we shall move across the sea. We will speak of this no more until she has come of age. For now, we must all part. It is for the safety and good of the clan."

Although he had only been a father for a few broken minutes, Seta immediately understood the duty that had fallen to him. Though the fault was not entirely his, it had been his seed that had culminated in the birth of the child. Therefore it was his task to protect the Clan and hide his child away, distancing her from the rest of his people.

The Clan would lay low, meeting only in secret, and disbanding to many foreign lands. For all their sakes, Seta hoped it would be enough.

He bowed to his Master, shoulders exhausted but resigned to his duty.

The clan leader was quiet for a moment, before he took another step closer to the babe that had stopped crying long ago and was watching him with bright green eyes. She had little hair, but already he could see the strange hue of rose tresses that had afflicted the Haruno women of long past.

He had never considered it would be under his careful watch that such a hair color would again make its appearance. He had been so strict with all of the healers, promising long hours of torture and a wicked death should they fail in their divine duty.

And yet, there she was, staring at him with eyes reflecting a soul as old as his own, the pink fuzz atop her head betraying her fate.

He felt both sorrow and hatred for her, despising the cruelty of the world and the part in it that she would undoubtedly play.

He took a deep breath and considered. It was always his honor to name the boys of his Clan. They were all "S" names, strong and brave, as was the tradition of their people. He had never thought to name a little girl.

Sou took a deep breath, stretching to his full height and rolling his wide shoulders back.

She had to be named. They would write of her one day; write of how sad and despicable her existence was to them.

"Haruno Sakura. Her name is Haruno Sakura. Do your duty well. May Kami guide you."

He turned on his heel, fully intent on clearing out his people by the night's end. His tall form strode angrily out of the tent, leaving the small, broken family behind.

The rest of the onlookers followed behind their master, trickling out one by one, until it was Seta and Seiya alone with the babe.

Seiya's tears slid achingly down her face, but she had quieted and was gazing at her precious daughter.

"Haruno Sakura."

Seta watched his wife quietly, hands fists at his sides.

"Haruno Sakura," she repeated, voice strengthening. Closing her eyes tightly, she lifted a desperate prayer up to the kami.

As the minutes passed and her jaw became slowly relaxed, Seiya gradually opened her blue eyes, turning them despairingly on the daughter she had always-and never, wanted.

"May you never be alone."

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RL


End file.
